Star Trek: First Contact

Movie
German title	Star Trek: First Contact
Original title	Star Trek: First Contact
Country of production	United States
original language	English
Publishing year	1996
length	111 minutes
Age rating	FSK 12
Rod
Director	Jonathan Frakes
script	Brannon Braga , Ronald D. Moore
production	Rick Berman
music	Jerry Goldsmith , Joel Goldsmith
camera	Matthew F. Leonetti
cut	John W. Wheeler, Anastasia Emmons
occupation
synchronization
chronology
←  Predecessor Star Trek: Meet the Generations Successor  → Star Trek: The Uprising

Star Trek: The First Contact (Original Title: Star Trek: First Contact ) is an American science fiction film from 1996 . He is the eighth in the fictional Star Trek - universe playing movie and the second in which the spaceship crew of Star Trek - The Next Generation is at the center of the action. In the film, the Enterprise is caught in a time vortex caused by the cybernetic Borg in the 24th century . These are on their way to Earth in the 21st century to assimilate Earth and thwart the creation of the United Federation of Planets .

The story, which is also based on motifs from the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville , revolves largely around revenge and seduction. She introduces a new Enterprise spaceship and, with the Borg Queen, a ruler over the Borg collective into the Star Trek universe. For Jonathan Frakes , who played first mate Riker, it was his debut as a film director; he used popular action and science fiction films as models.

With a worldwide grossing of around 150 million US dollars, of which around 19 million came from Germany, the film became one of the most commercially successful Star Trek films and - with a budget of 45 million US dollars - the one for the film studio Paramount most profitable of the four screen adaptations of The Next Century . Critics praised the film especially for the speed and entertaining action, the staging and the acting of the main actors Patrick Stewart and Alice Krige ; some critics complained that the film was not centered enough on characterizing the main characters. Especially with regard to the action of the Enterprise crew against the Borg, the plot was interpreted as a departure from values ​​typical for Star Trek such as tolerance. Some of the home theater releases also have the number 8 or VIII , which the film occupies within the Star Trek film series, in the title.

First Contact is also the original title of the episode First Contact of the television series, to which there is no direct connection.

action

prehistory

The film builds on the plot of previous, canonical Star Trek productions - especially Spaceship Enterprise - The Next Century - but does not necessarily require knowledge of them.

As captain of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D , the flagship of the Starfleet operated by the United Federation of Planets , Jean-Luc Picard was kidnapped by the Borg at the end of 2366 and held captive on one of their cube-shaped spaceships. The Borg are a species whose representatives are hybrid beings consisting of humanoids and machines without individuality and who have a collective consciousness. Their self-image is to develop themselves further by assimilating the representatives and the technology of other cultures. The Borg intend the same thing with humans and the earth; for this purpose they use the Picard they have assimilated as speaker. Although Picard is freed from the captivity of the Borg after a short time by the crew of the Enterprise, he retains the memories of his captivity ( → The next century: In the hands of the Borg, target earth ).

The android Data , commanding officer on the Enterprise, can be used a chip to the experience of emotions 2371 - also deactivatable component through which it its goal to become more human, comes much closer. Independently of this, the drive section of the Enterprise is destroyed in the same year and the saucer section is forced to make an emergency landing on the surface of a planet (→ meeting of the generations ) .

Film plot

The action begins in 2373. The Borg have apparently begun invading Federation territory, a Borg cube is approaching Earth. Although the newly commissioned USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E is the most advanced spacecraft in Starfleet, it is on patrol in a part of space far from the front, according to Admiral Hayes' orders . Captain Picard, who suffers from nightmares about his former assimilation by the Borg, is certain that Hayes judges him to be too unpredictable to fight the Borg because of his assimilation experience. When Picard learns that a fleet of Starfleet spaceships is suffering heavy losses in the battle against the Borg Cube, he defies his order, fully supported by his staff officers. Once at the battlefield near Earth, the Enterprise crew rescues Worf and the rest of the crew of the Defiant spaceship, which was badly damaged by the Borg . Picard lets the Starfleet spaceships shoot at certain coordinates of the Borg cube known to him from his time of assimilation. Shortly before the cube explodes as a result of the targeted fire, a spherical, smaller Borg spaceship leaves it, which a little later disappears into a vortex that serves it for a journey through time. When the bridge crew suddenly realizes that the earth is completely assimilated by the Borg and that only the Borg spaceship, which has traveled into the past, can be responsible for this, the Enterprise follows him into the vortex. The Enterprise destroys the enemy Borg spaceship firing at a rocket base in Montana . Research shows that the Enterprise traveled back to the year 2063 on April 4, the day before the first contact between humans and Vulcans . For the commanding officers there is no question that the Borg want to prevent the first contact and thus the creation of the federation. So Picard decides to thwart the Borg's plan and to ensure that the earthly citizen Zefram Cochrane succeeds in his first flight with a warp spaceship , through which the first contact is made.

In the launch pad of Cochrane's spaceship "Phoenix", which was damaged in the attack by the Borg, an away team searching for Cochrane discovers his assistant Lily Sloane. She is treated by Dr. Beverly Crusher taken on the Enterprise. After problems with the environmental control system on the Enterprise, Picard realizes that the Borg must have transferred themselves to the Enterprise shortly before the explosion of their mother ship and are now in the process of assimilating the spaceship. Data manages to lock down the main computer of the Enterprise, preventing the Borg from using the computer. Within a short period of time, the Borg control more than half of all decks. While several raiding parties consisting of Picard, Data, Worf and other armed crew members try to prevent the Borg from taking over the Enterprise completely, Data is kidnapped by the Borg. In addition, Picard encounters Lily, who has run away and is initially skeptical towards him, and who he is soon able to convince that she is not one of her enemies. While Picard is on the way through the spaceship with Lily, he explains the Federation and the Enterprise to her. Picard can lure some Borg into an ambush on the holodeck and thereby seize one of their neuroprocessors. From this he gets the information that the Borg are planning to use the deflector shield of the Enterprise to summon reinforcements from their people living in the 21st century. To prevent the Borg from doing so, Picard and Worf, together with the ship's navigator Lieutenant Hawk, go in space suits to the deflector shield attached to the outside of the spacecraft, the transmitter of which the Borg are still doing configuration work. They manage to blast off and destroy the shield despite the resistance of the Borg and the assimilation of Hawks.

To the astonishment of Datas, who is tied on his back in the engine room, a female Borg individual appears, who introduces herself to him as the leader of the Borg, but only in the credits as "Borg Queen" (German: "Borg Queen") becomes. The Borg Queen intends to use Data's help to gain control of the Enterprise's main computer and offers to help him fulfill his dream of becoming more human. To do this, she has a piece of human skin transplanted onto Data's endoskeleton , enabling him to perceive sensations. He also senses this when the Borg forcibly break off an attempt to escape Data. Then the Borg queen tests Datas sensations regarding sexuality and gives him a kiss on the mouth, which Data reciprocates.

In the meantime , on the missile base, Riker , Troi and La Forge explain the situation to the alcoholic Cochrane and try to convince him to carry out his warp flight as planned the next day so that the first contact actually takes place. The enthusiasm of the team members of Cochranes, from their point of view, future achievements causes annoyance at Cochrane, because he does not want to be revered as a hero. He only built the warp engine because he hoped for the highest possible financial income. Overwhelmed by the importance it has for the future of the planet, he flees into a forest. Riker convinces him with the argument of the return that he shouldn't try to be a hero, but that he should give the story the opportunity to develop in its own way. Together they then manage to repair the Phoenix.

The Borg continue to assimilate the ship, so Worf and other bridge officers demand from Picard to initiate the self-destruction of the Enterprise and thus destroy the Borg on her. To their displeasure, Picard refuses the request because he does not want to sacrifice any more Enterprise. Demanding an explanation for avoiding self-destruction, Lily compares Picard's behavior to that of Captain Ahab from the novel Moby-Dick, and thus convinces him that his judgment is tarnished by his attempts to revenge against the Borg. Picard thereby agrees to initiate the self-destruct sequence and arranges for the crew to be evacuated to the surface of the earth. While Cochrane, as planned and accompanied by Riker and La Forge, takes off with the Phoenix from Earth, Picard goes into the engine room to free Data. There he remembers meeting the Borg queen during his former assimilation and offers himself to her in return for Data's freedom. Data, whose face is now partly made of human skin and who is more emotional than before, pretends to be controlled by the Borg. To do this, he deactivates the self-destruct sequence and gives the Borg control of the main computer. When the torpedoes shot down by Data miss their target - the Phoenix - he destroys a tank in the engine room with plasma coolant that decomposes organic materials. This then flows out and concentrates on the ground. To get away from the coolant, Picard climbs on hanging hoses; while the Borg queen clings to him, also seeking rescue. Data manages to pull the Borg queen down, whereupon they both plunge into the coolant. After the coolant is sucked out, Picard destroys the remaining, inorganic part of the Borg queen.

Having become aware of Earth through Cochrane's Warpflug, some Vulcans establish contact with the people on the missile base - but without having noticed the Enterprise. While Cochrane tries to entertain the newcomers in a restaurant, the Enterprise returns to the 24th century.

History of origin

Project planning and script draft

Screenwriter Brannon Braga

Screenwriter Ronald D. Moore

In early 1995, Rick Berman , Paramount's chief executive of Star Trek , hired Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore to develop a script for a new Star Trek film. The two had already written the script for the previous film, Meetings of the Generations , which appeared in late 1994 . They developed the script based on their own idea of ​​a Borg-centered story and that of Berman, who favored a story about time travel . Before deciding on the 21st century as the main plot time, they also focused on other epochs, for example the Renaissance , and decided against these time periods, because in most cases they were already in earlier Star Trek productions had been discussed. The preparations for the production of the film took about a year. Paramount executives criticized the Borg in early script drafts as - as author Robb put it - "little more than space zombies". For this reason, the decision was made to introduce a Borg queen as a figurehead.

A script draft submitted by Kirk actor William Shatner to Paramount, which envisaged a revival of his character by the Borg, rejected Berman, Braga and Moore; for this, based on the manuscript, the novel The Return, first published in 1997, was created . The originally intended original title Star Trek: Resurrection for the film was abandoned after the original title Alien: Resurrection of the fourth Alien film Alien - The Rebirth had become known. An intermediate stage of development of the script provided for the story of Picard and the character Lily to be settled on Earth and both to lead a romance, while Riker and Worf fight the Borg on the Enterprise. However, Picard actor Patrick Stewart , who judged the love story to be untrustworthy, objected. The consensus also arose that it would be wrong not to confront Picard with the Borg based on his personal experiences. The draft was therefore changed to the script version that was ultimately made ready for film. Braga and Moore largely coordinated the script with Data actor Brent Spiner and also took into account the opinions of the other actors selected for the film. Other rejected titles for the film included Star Trek - Generations 2 , Star Trek: Borg and Star Trek: Regeneration .

Director and Riker actor Jonathan Frakes

Since David Carson , the director of the seventh Star Trek movie, was not available due to deadlines, the decision was made to direct Jonathan Frakes . Also endorsed by Stewart, Berman chose Frakes because of his relatively extensive experience with Star Trek , which he had gained in addition to his leading role in The Next Century as well as the director of several episodes in both this series and Deep Space Nine and Spaceship Voyager . Critics also suspected that Frakes' motivation for the decision, as a debut director of a movie, was a relatively low fee. Frakes jokingly cited the unavailability of Ridley Scott and John McTiernan as the reason for the decision .

Cast and German dubbed version

In mid-1995, Stewart announced to Studio Paramount that he was unavailable for another Star Trek film. At the same time, the rumor that Joel Schumacher wanted to cast Stewart in the film Batman & Robin grew into Variety magazine . Fearing that if the Batman film were to become commercially successful , Stewart would no longer be recruited for the role of Picard due to increased fee demands, the studio made him an offer that would include a fee of US $ 5 million and a say in the design of the Script includes what Stewart accepted.

For Picard's six staff officers, the actors who had already played these roles in the television series and in meetings of the generations could again be engaged . The role of Lily Sloane was cast by a black actress at Stewart's request. He intended to give the film the statement that racism is not acceptable in the future or in the present. Stewart prepared for his role with a professionally guided twelve-week fitness session. Although Frakes said that the characters Zefram Cochrane, Lily Sloane and the Borg Queen were cast with the first choice of actors, Tom Hanks was originally intended for the role of Cochrane , but he canceled due to the deadline. The role of Cochrane, embodied in the spaceship enterprise episode Metamorphosis by Glenn Corbett († 1993), was given to James Cromwell , who had already appeared in three other guest roles in The Next Century and Deep Space Nine . In Star Trek Enterprise , Cromwell later played the role of Cochrane again, but in a mirror universe, where the first contact with the Vulcans is different.

As with the previous film, the German dubbing version was created by the dubbing studio Berliner Synchron . Dialogue book author and director was Lutz Riedel . In the television series and in the seventh Star Trek film, the character Riker was dubbed by Detlef Bierstedt and the character La Forge by Charles Rettinghaus . Neither the dubbing studio nor Paramount wanted to pay the demands of both dubbing actors to the dubbing studio to multiply their fee in order to share in the revenue for radio plays that were created with their voices, among other things. Therefore, the German voices of both characters with the voice actors Tom Vogt and Bernd Vollbrecht were newly cast.

In the scene in which a female crew member is assimilated by the Borg in the engine room and screams into the camera, you don't hear a scream in the original German dubbed version. This was corrected for the DVD release, in which the English original sound can be heard at this point.

actor	Role name	German voice actor
Patrick Stewart	Captain Jean-Luc Picard	Rolf Schult
Jonathan Frakes	Commander William Riker	Tom Vogt
LeVar Burton	Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge	Bernd Vollbrecht
Brent Spiner	Lieutenant Commander Data	Michael Pan
Michael Dorn	Lieutenant Commander Worf	Raimund Krone
Marina Sirtis	Counselor Deanna Troi	Eva Kryll
Gates McFadden	Dr. Beverly Crusher	Rita Engelmann
James Cromwell	Dr. Zefram Cochrane	Jochen Schröder
Alfre Woodard	Lily Sloane	Sabine Jaeger
Alice Krige	Borg queen	Traudel Haas
Dwight Schultz	Reginald Barclay	David Nathan
Jack Shearer	Hayes	Imo Heite
Michael Horton	Daniels	Jonas Ziegler
Eric Steinberg	Paul Porter	Andreas Hosang
Neal McDonough	Hawk	Asad Black
Robert Picardo	Med.-holograph. Emergency program	Stefan Staudinger
Don Stark	Nicky the nose	Frank Hildebrandt
Patti Yasutake	Alyssa Ogawa	Beate Pfeiffer

• Some main characters
• 

  Picard actor Patrick Stewart

• 

  Data actor Brent Spiner

• 

  Alice Krige, actress of the Borg Queen

• 

  Sloane actress Alfre Woodard

• 

  Cochrane actor James Cromwell

Production design

A Titan II ICBM (here with a nuclear warhead) in a missile silo

For the Design of in this area for many years was Star Trek -erfahrene Herman F. Zimmerman responsible. The modeling of all exterior and interior sets took about a year. Among other things, the approximately 60 screens attached to the walls of the ship's bridge, which was also redesigned, served to suggest technical progress compared to the predecessor spaceships. The set for the infirmary is the one used for spaceship Voyager , the observation lounge was taken over from the Enterprise-D and redesigned. A missile silo located in the Titan Missile Museum in Green Valley (Arizona) was used as a set for the launch pad of Cochrane's warp spaceship Phoenix . Instead of the nuclear warhead of the 33-meter-long Titan II ICBM , a specially made dummy cockpit was attached to create the spacecraft Phoenix, which Zimmerman described as similar to the cockpit of a Boeing 747 .

Costumes and masks

The script called for around 800 different costumes. Frakes hired Deborah Everton as a costume designer because he valued her experience in creating costumes for science fiction films, which include Abyss . For the costumes of people living in the 21st century and of the Enterprise crew members disguised as such, Everton took inspiration from the works of Charles Dickens . The costume of the Borg queen was made as a one-piece .

After the design of the Starfleet uniforms previously introduced in Deep Space Nine had only been adopted at meetings of the generations, newly designed uniforms for Starfleet members were introduced in First Contact . Moviestar magazine cited the promotion of merchandising as a possible reason for this .

The make-up artist was Oscar winner Michael Westmore , who has worked in this capacity for the Star Trek television series since the start of production of The Next Century . Zimmermans and Westmore's source of inspiration for the redesign of the Borg was also the work of the alien creator HR Giger . What was new compared to the portrayal of the Borg in the television series were above all the now fully visible skull and the scarred-looking and moist, shiny skin.

Filming

Filming began on April 8, 1996. The first three weeks were used for the outdoor shots. The shooting began in the missile silo in Arizona, which, despite the confinement, temporarily housed over 100 staff members and actors. The outdoor scenes set on the earth of the 21st century were shot in the Angeles National Forest near Los Angeles . The city's Union Station was used to record the scenes that take place in a 1940s nightclub holographically created in the film. 150 extras, 25 stuntmen and an 18-piece dance orchestra were used. During the nine weeks that followed the outdoor shoot, the film was shot entirely in the Paramount studios in Los Angeles. It took between five and seven hours per day of shooting to put on the Borg Queen's costume for the actress Alice Krige . To simulate weightlessness in the fight scene taking place above the deflector bowl, the actors were attached to a crane with ropes.

Matthew F. Leonetti was selected by Frakes as cameraman for his contributions to Poltergeist , 48 Hours Again and Strange Days . An integral part of his work on the film was creating a special lighting scheme for the Enterprise's interiors, both during normal ship operation and in situations where there is a red alert and emergency power is required. In order to visually emphasize the control of the Enterprise by the Borg, the corridors of the ship were illuminated with light sources mounted near the ground. In order to hide the fastening elements of the corridor ceilings while the camera was low, fluorescent fabrics and lamps with aluminum foil were used instead of regular lighting . Leonetti used the steadicam very often during filming .

After test demonstrations, Rick Berman had some scenes re-shot.

Special and visual effects

As a basis for the special effects , which were realized partly with motion control photography and partly with computer-generated imagery , several spaceship models were first created. The illustrators John Eaves and Rick Sternbach were responsible for modeling the new Enterprise spaceship . Eaves designed the spaceship based on a combination of characteristics from the previous Enterprise spaceships. Compared to the Enterprise-D it is more streamlined, at 600 meters longer, but with 24 decks it has 18 decks less. Sternbach first created a roughly 60 centimeter long dummy, which served as the basis for a miniature model that was about three meters long and produced over a period of more than five months. This was also used in the following two Star Trek movies and was auctioned in 2006 at Christie's London auction house for US $ 120,000. For the space battle at the beginning of the film, computer models of four new classes of starship were created.

The design of the Borg cube was refined compared to the cube shown in the television series. When designing the spherical Borg spaceship, also called Sphere in the film, attempts were made to avoid similarities with the Death Star from Star Wars .

More than 222 special shots were made for the film. Under the direction of John Knoll , 135 of them were made by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM); Paramount commissioned four companies in the Los Angeles area with the rest of the recordings. To create the effects, ILM also used an in-house, newly developed software for creating particle systems . To generate the effects when starting the Phoenix, ILM used designs from the film Twister again. For example, they took over the design of the shadow of the cyclone for the cloud of smoke caused by the rocket.

The shot shown at the beginning of the film, in which the camera moves away from Picard's Iris , was realized with a dolly zoom . The camera was guided on a 40 meter long track. The shot was filmed in three separate parts, which were then digitally combined. The sequence in which the Enterprise-E appears in the film for the first time in front of a space nebula similar to the Eagle Nebula photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope consists of three shots , one of which alone comprises more than 600 CGI frames .

André Bormanis , who had been working in this role since 1993 for the Star Trek television series, was employed as a scientific advisor . For example, he made sure that the Enterprise, as viewed by Cochrane from Earth through a telescope , is in geosynchronous orbit .

Dubbing

For the composition of film music is dedicated to Oscar award winner Jerry Goldsmith , who already have the music for the parts 1 and 5 of the Star Trek had composed film series. To get the job done within the three weeks he had, he enlisted the help of his son, Joel Goldsmith . A total of 72 minutes of the composed material was ultimately used to set the film to music. 22 minutes of it is by Joel Goldsmith; it is mainly music that is used to characterize the Borg.

cut

John W. Wheeler was responsible for the editing . In one of the scenes that were removed from the final cut in order to limit the length of the film , Cochrane, tearing away in front of the Enterprise crew, got onto a ledge and threatens to jump into the abyss. When Troi's attempts to stop him fail, she pushes him off the cliff, knowing full well that he will land on a force field that La Forge has built up in the meantime.

Publication and commercial success

Cinema screenings

Overview of
cinema admission numbers

nation	Admissions (thousand)
United States	20,745
Germany	2,416
Austria	198
Switzerland	85
United Kingdom	2,418
Spain	170
Netherlands	169
Italy	161
France	156
Belgium	81
Finland	54
Sweden	37
Denmark	34
Portugal	min. 27
Czech Republic	26th
Hungary	19th

The film had its world premiere on November 18, 1996 at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood . In accordance with the request of the Paramount leadership, the film was released in cinemas in the United States at the right time for the 30th Star Trek anniversary . It started on November 22, 1996 with 2,812 copies . The premiere in the United Kingdom took place on the tenth of the following month in the presence of the British Prince Charles , the proceeds of which were donated to Charles' charitable organization Prince's Trust . At the German premiere on December 12th in the Cologne City Museum - as at the aforementioned premieres - actors and staff representatives were present. The official cinema release in Germany was December 19, 1996. In the first week after the start, 583 German cinemas showed the film; that was about 300 fewer than the blockbuster Independence Day that started in the same year . The cinema release in Austria was on December 20, 1996. In Switzerland, the film opened on January 10 or 28, 1997, depending on the source. Up to and including August 1997, the film was shown in at least 30 countries around the world.

With production costs of 45 million US dollars - the highest so far for a Star Trek film - played the film world's approximately 150 million US dollars. With the resulting profit of over 100 million US dollars, the film was as profitable as the previously commercially successful parts 1 and 4 of the Star Trek film series. In cinemas in the United States, the film grossed around US $ 92 million - including US $ 30.7 million on the opening weekend alone - and was ranked 17th in the highest-grossing list of the 1996 films. The film was seen in German cinemas by around 2.415 million people - thus it was ranked 13th among the most-watched films launched in 1996 - and grossed around 19.1 million US dollars. In terms of viewership in Germany, the film was almost on par with the UK. In Austria the film had about 198,000 admissions, in Switzerland about 85,000.

Soundtrack

In December 1996 the label GNP Crescendo Records released a part of the soundtrack , which was about 54 minutes long and not in chronological order, on an enhanced CD together with some interviews contained as video films . This could not be played correctly on some computers, including those with Mac OS 7 and Windows 95 as the operating system. One possible reason Crescendo did not release the full soundtrack at the time was that the license costs were too high. In the following years, some pirated copies of the soundtrack came into circulation, which also included pieces that were missing in the first crescendo release. In 2012, Crescendo published a completed compilation of the soundtrack, comprising around 79 minutes and now sorted in chronological ascending order, on a double audio CD limited to 10,000 copies . There are 26 tracks included in the film and three titles that are alternative versions not included in the film. The soundtrack was also distributed on music cassettes and for download in MP3 format.

Home theater publication and television broadcasting

As part of the home theater release, the film was released in various formats - including video cassette , laser disc , DVD and Blu-ray  - and editions, that is, alone or together with other Star Trek feature films. The worldwide video rental income for the film is at least $ 115 million. First broadcast on September 11, 1999 by Sat.1 , the film has been repeated several times on German television since then.

criticism

Review mirror

positive image Chicago Sun-Times Film service Film starts Frankfurter Rundschau kino.de Los Angeles Times Upper Austrian news ReelViews San Francisco Chronicle Variety Rather positive omovie Berlin newspaper Entertainment Weekly SFX TV guide Wired Mixed Cinefantastique Online Empire prism Stuttgart newspaper The Washington Post Rather negative BBC the daily newspaper Salon.com negative The New York Times More reviews Time Magazine

The website Metacritic rated the film - based on reviews in English - with a Metascore of 71 percent; the average rating by IMDb users is 7.6 out of 10 possible points (as of September 14, 2016).

Script and plot

Some critics compared the film to Independence Day . For example, the writer of the film magazine Cinefantastique online wrote that although the film only rudimentary assimilation of the earth, it was at least as effective as the competing production. The critic of the Oberösterreichische Nachrichten was completely satisfied with the film, but explicitly set it apart from the artistic importance of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the creative diversity of the first Star Wars trilogy. The film was also praised as being action-packed, for example by critics from All Movie and the Stuttgarter Zeitung . The British critics in particular found the film too full of action and, in this context, too little focused on characterizing the characters. For example, the writer of the film magazine Empire wrote that the script did not allow viewers who are unfamiliar with the TV series enough time to worry about the characters, and therefore only rated the film three out of five stars. In contrast, the script was praised by other critics, such as that of the US magazine Variety, for the fact that the film could not only be understood by Star Trek fans, but also by people who had no close relationship with Star Trek . The script was praised for its abundance of details and the scriptwriters as a result of it as resourceful. This applies, among other things, to the inclusion of the Defiant spaceship from Deep Space Nine . While some critics - including those of the Berliner Zeitung  - praised the script as humorous and rich in punch lines, James Berardinelli , for example, complained that the humor scenes were mostly too forced and out of place; that also includes Troi's drunkenness. Claudia Kern criticized in the German edition of the science fiction magazine SFX , also alluding to the episode Ich bin Hugh , Picard's vengeance as incomprehensible, as he seemed to have overcome it.

In the reviews that appeared when the film was released, the film was recognized several times as one of the best Star Trek films. Berardinelli concluded that the film was the most entertaining of the three films released in the 1990s. He also noted that the film had creatively reinvigorated the series. According to the critic of Entertainment Weekly magazine , the film appears completely independent of its predecessors with lively, new energy and a sleek, confident style. The author of the US technology magazine Wired acknowledged that the film had refreshed the "tired" allegories of the Cold War that are typical of Star Trek . The film's weakness was occasionally cited that it relied on too many familiar Star Trek elements. Prisma, for example, referred to the similarity to the fourth Star Trek film in connection with the time travel story .

Some of the German media also expressed their displeasure with Star Trek in general when they criticized the film . The taz, for example, described the Enterprise as "already cucumbering around forever".

Staging, acting and German dubbed version

The technical implementation of the film was largely praised. It was the best Star Trek film to date, according to Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times . The film benefits from the latest advances in special effects, such as the tracking shot that opens the film. The Wiesbaden Film Evaluation Office awarded the film the rating of “Valuable” and highlighted buildings and trick technology that were particularly successful in the judgment. The critic of the film service praised the film as a "technically successful and photographically brilliant space adventure". The Variety journalist highlighted Leonetti's camera work and Westmore's make-up as "excellent across the board". Jonathan Frakes has received critical acclaim as a director; they judged his direction to be competent and confident. It is thanks to him that the visual style has become “outstanding” ( Moviestar ) and the film has become “perhaps the most streamlined” Star Trek film (Berardinelli). According to the author of Variety, he managed to maintain tension and clarity in the story told at the same time. The critic of the British BBC complained, however, that Frakes never bring the tension to a level that suggests failure of the protagonists. The feature section reviews paid little attention to the film music. The US review site Filmtracks.com rated the music as consistent and exceptionally cohesive . A handful of questionable features outside of the Borg material, however, would limit their ambitions; the title topic seems out of place.

Among the achievements of the actors, those of Stewart and Krige were particularly highlighted. Stewart, according to Kern, plays with high intensity and carries the plot "effortlessly and happily". Martin Scholz certified Stewart in the Frankfurter Rundschau that "even with the laser rifle in hand, he will not become a space rambo ". Krige, said the critic of Variety, had played the Borg Queen with "excellent perverse lust ". TV Guide praised it: “It exudes a lot of synthetic malice under a blanket of make-up.” Some critics also praised the achievements of Spiner and Woodard. The author of the Washington Post was not entirely satisfied with the performance of the actors in the television series. Frakes, for example, "often appears annoyingly smiling and human".

The book authors Thomas Höhl and Mike Hillenbrand expressed their satisfaction with the cast of the voice actors for the guest actors. The German, "particularly gentle and erotic voice" of the Borg Queen sounds almost better than Alice Krige's voice. In addition, they criticized the German dubbed version as a little "loveless", which is shown, among other things, by the fact that "vital system" was translated as "vital system" instead of "vital system" and - as in other Star Trek films - "Starfleet" with "space fleet" instead of "star fleet".

Awards and nominations

→ Main article : List of awards and nominations for Star Trek films

The film was nominated at least 17 times for an award and received 4 times. In this respect, based on the first ten Star Trek films , it can best be compared to the first and fourth part. At the 1997 Academy Awards , the film went without a prize in the only Best Make-up category in which it was nominated. Nominated for a Saturn Award in ten categories , Brent Spiner was awarded for best supporting actor, Alice Krige for best supporting actress and Deborah Everton for best costume. With the BMI Film & TV Award was Jerry Goldsmith named best composer. Director Frakes and the screenwriting team were nominated in the category Best Dramatic Presentation for the renowned science fiction prize Hugo Award . Other nominations were at the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes as actors, at the NAACP Image Awards for Alfre Woodard and at the Satellite Awards for John Knoll for Best Visual Effects .

Interpretation and analysis

Shape and style

The first contact was in addition to for Star Trek typical film genres of science fiction , space opera , action and adventure and the horror , the ghost stories , the tales and the lurid literature assigned.

As possible sources of inspiration for the production, Frakes studied popular action and science fiction films, including Alien , Aliens Return , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Blade Runner, and Jaws . In this regard, Frakes was quoted as saying: "If ideas steal, then only from the best."

dramaturgy

The film is a continuation of the double episode The Best of Both Worlds - German In the hands of the Borg (end of season 3 ) and attack target earth (beginning of season 4 ) from The Next Century . This is already clear in the opening scene, which in a "dream in a dream" cited Picard's stay on the Borg spaceship during its assimilation. While Picard is shown as an assimilated "Locutus", this name, which was once given to him by the Borg, can be heard off- screen from a female voice . This is - as the viewer only learns later in the film - the voice of the Borg Queen. When he faces the Borg Queen towards the end of the film, some images of the dreams shown at the beginning of the film are shown again, along with images in which he can be seen together with the Borg Queen. These and other sequences distributed throughout the film, in which Picard occasionally also perceives voices from the Borg collective, illustrate his connection to the Borg through his assimilation.

As an example of the influence of Jaws , Frakes cited the situation he characterized as an implicit threat, in which the crew members in the engine room are not yet aware that the temperature rise on the Enterprise was caused by the invading Borg. It is shown how two of the team members are attacked by the Borg while searching for the cause, without the viewer getting to see the Borg.

The film is mostly told in parallel montage; the events on earth alternate with those in the engine room and those taking place in the rest of the spaceship.

There are scenes with humor throughout the film. Among other things, they serve to reduce tension after dangerous incidents and to cheer up the audience. An example of this is that of Dr. Crusher activated the holographic doctor to save time for their escape from the Borg, who offered the Borg drones a pain reliever ointment against any skin irritation caused by the implants. The doctor's statement “I am a doctor, not a doorstop” also alludes to the beginning of the series often used by Dr. McCoy expressed his displeasure with a non-medical task assigned to him. It is thus an example of the many contained in the film Star Trek - inside jokes .

Visual style

The film was characterized as "dense visualized" and as "optically sophisticated". Its narrative speed was compared to that of a fast video clip , its sequence of cuts characterized as staccato- like. In numerous settings, the camera is inclined in relation to the horizon of the objects and figures being filmed. In scenes in which crew members are out and about in the corridors of the Enterprise Decks, they follow the moving camera, which is usually guided close to the ceiling or the floor. In conversational situations , half-close attitude sizes dominate . In the scenes in which crew members of the Enterprise are directly confronted with the Borg drones, the camera or the viewer sometimes briefly adopts the perspective of the drones using point-of-view settings , their field of view being shown strongly distorted.

Compared to the portrayal in The Next Century , the Borg shown in the film were characterized in terms of their external appearance both by the creators of the film and by critics as significantly more threatening, terrifying and repulsive. Everton's contribution to shaping the Borg in the film was to make the assimilation of bodies happen from the inside out. When it begins, the Borg inject nanorobots into their victim by stabbing them in the neck . The visible skin of the body becomes gray, hairless and transparent, the veins become visible. With regard to this representation of assimilation, the Borg have been compared to body eaters , zombies and vampires , among other things . Dryden (2007) saw strong similarities to the style of Gothic culture in the industrial-looking environment in which the Borg transform the interior of the spaceship after their arrival on the Enterprise with fumes, pipes and weak lighting . Other recipients characterized the appearance of the assimilated areas as gloomy and compared them to the visual style of the Alien films. Leonetti's lighting of the Enterprise's interiors has been described by Frakes as being similar to the style of Das Boot . The cameraman's intention was to make the scenes playing in the corridors of the Enterprise appear claustrophobic .

The Borg Queen is staged as a being, whose head and spine are made of metal and, when she appears for the first time, are inserted into a standing, black lower body with black legs and arms. The uncovered part of her skin - above the breast level - that is characterized as " translucent , moist, greenish-white amphibious " and alabaster , is attached to it with metal clips. In this guise, the Borg queen was characterized as phallic by Dryden (2007) and Greven (2009) . For Greven, she represents the woman as a body dismantled into its components, each of which represents a similar phallic symbol. Consalvo (2004) found the Borg queen reduced to a sexual being, and her power is shown as lying in her femininity. In addition, the Borg queen and the Borg drones have been compared several times with the Zenobites from the Hellraiser horror films due to their external appearance .

music

One of the themes composed for the film , the First Contact Theme , will be heard in full during the opening credits . It mainly contains French horn sounds and is briefly hinted at several times in the further course of the film, before it sounds again in full length when the Vulcans first come into contact with the people on earth. Another central theme is the Borg theme, which is mainly characterized by mechanical tones. Its instrumentation is similar to the blaster beam instrumentation from the first Star Trek film. Another theme is the Quest Theme , which is also determined by synthesizer sounds and which Jerry Goldsmith borrowed from the fifth Star Trek film. From this and the first film, he also adapted the Klingon theme, which serves to represent Worf and can be heard among other things when the Defiant commanded by Worf appears. The longest piece of music in the film is called The Dish and sounds around the deflector bowl while Picard, Worf and Hawk are in action. When the Enterprise emerges from the fog at the beginning of the film, a variation of the Star Trek march can be heard. The Star Trek Fanfare , once composed by Alexander Courage , is played in the end credits, in which the essential pieces of the music played during the action are repeated.

The music that Picard hears in his ready room at the beginning of the film is Hector Berlioz 's opera Les Troyens . When Picard and Sloane are in the holodeck, the song Moonlight Becomes You, composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke and sung by Julie Morgan , will be heard . When the Phoenix takes off from the surface of the earth, Cochrane plays the song Magic Carpet Ride by the band Steppenwolf . The music also played in the jukebox at the end of the film, during Cochrane's encounter with the aliens, includes the title Ooby Dooby by the singer Roy Orbison .

subjects

Film scenario, first contact

The scene that gives the film its title is the landing of the volcanic spaceship on earth. Other elements of the film also represent their first contact. For the crew of the Enterprise, this is their first contact with Zefram Cochrane. For Data, the moment in which the Borg queen blows him on the newly transplanted piece of skin and thus helps him to get his first sensation, perceived in this way, is a first contact.

Critics compared the film scenario with that of other works of science fiction. In addition to Alien , Terminator was mentioned above all . The Washington Post critic was convinced that the Borg's plan to assimilate 21st century earth to avert an important historical event was clearly influenced by this film. Also with a view to the storyline revolving around Cochrane, The First Contact was characterized as being similar to the film The Stuff of Which the Heroes Are Made.

In publications that appeared as part of the film's release, its creators placed it - as is common with the other Star Trek productions - in the tradition of the Star Trek- typical utopia once intended by Gene Roddenberry . Braga, for example, said that it was the intention of the scriptwriters "to make it clear that nobody in our society thinks about their own responsibility and, above all, their responsibility to the world." With the time travel, the film shows the selflessness of the spaceship crew and their willingness to risk their lives "to help those unable to rise above their own problems." Some critics, such as that of the Los Angeles Times , were also convinced that the film was within Roddenberry idealistic ideas.

The character Lily Sloane was used by the scriptwriters to explore the differences between a person from the 24th century and one from the 21st century. With regard to the introductory function of the character Lily in the 24th century, the film can also be characterized as an introduction of the viewer to the technological and social utopia of Star Trek .

Vengeance, hatred and diversity

The intention of the screenwriters - especially Rick Bermans - was to turn Picard into an action hero in the film, to portray him as a strong, tough character and thus to distance him from the brooding, melancholy, and fearful person he was was in the previous film. For this purpose, too, they designed the film based on the model of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick and Picard as Ahab-like anti-heroes . Just as Captain Ahab intends to destroy the white sperm whale out of vengeance for the loss of his leg at all costs, Picard's motive is to kill the Borg out of revenge for the suffering they once inflicted on him through assimilation, and for that too Accept loss of the Enterprise and its crew. According to his statement, Picard's pain is the loss of his individuality. According to the interpretation of the book authors Michèle and Duncan Barrett (2001), the Borg, like the whale in the novel, are presented as a force of nature and as something supernatural that only the captain really understands. After The Wrath of Khan , Moby-Dick was again an important source of inspiration for a Star Trek film. Due to the new characterization of Picard compared to the previous film, his character also changed compared to the television series, in which his actions were predominantly determined by reason and humanism .

In relation to the Star Trek -Fernsehserien and movies in general and therefore to the utopia of Star Trek - the universe can values of the Federation as a liberal be understood, including overlooking the tolerance other species to which the form - especially in The Next Century which will come into effect - expresses the highest directive . The behavior of the Federation members in The First Contact was interpreted as a contradiction to values ​​such as tolerance. None of the crew members object to Picard's instruction to kill already assimilated colleagues without hesitation. From this, said the literary scholar Robert Tindol, the message proceeds that the only good Borg is a dead Borg. The film ignores any possible benefit that could result from an encounter with aliens like the Borg. In addition, he leaves possible alternatives - such as the rehabilitation of Borg drones - to the procedure to necessarily kill the Borg to defeat them, disregarded.

As an example of the progressive character of Star Trek , Picard's statements to Sloane can also be considered, in which he informs her, among other things, that there is no more money in his, the 24th century, because people are no longer striving for wealth, but instead work on improving yourself. The statements also include Picard's announcement to the woman that he does not intend to kill the Borg out of revenge, because they are no longer a motivation in his century. In the further course of the film, Sloane gets Picard to admit his thirst for revenge and thus contradict his initial statement. Sloane's accusation against Picard of being vengeful is replied by the latter also saying that the society of his century possessed a more developed sensitivity. The art scholar Nicholas Mirzoeff interpreted Picard's answer as a social Darwinist , primarily because Sloane is an African American . Picard then initially refuses to destroy the spaceship. Sloane then draws Picard's attention to the story of Ahab, which leads Picard to believe he should initiate the self-destruct sequence. Some recipients understood this turn of action to be racist . The book author David Greven, for example, interpreted Sloane as the black woman who enables white, male power, which becomes clear here in the form of Picard's announcement that the Borg will pay for their deeds. The legal scholar Kenneth Anderson realized Picard's admission to harbor revenge intentions than a standard scene from America of the late 20th century, because in it a black woman a white admit man to bring that joy of killing and the deep connection with weapons of his Inside.

Anderson was convinced that the Borg were not "absolutely evil" in the sense that one could hate them - like the National Socialists for their betrayal of humanity - for their self-imposed inhumanity, but that they were "absolutely threatening" with regard to theirs Otherness, which in itself should not be viewed as a flaw. The hatred that Sloane arouses in Picard, however, make the Borg appear "absolutely evil"; the Borg would not have betrayed their humanity. Anderson used this problem in the British literary magazine Times Literary Supplement as a starting point for considerations on the topics of multiculturalism and cultural relativism , which he believed to be ending in relation to America.

Also in relation to the television series in which the Borg play a role, the Borg's value system is clearly opposite to that of the Federation. For example, the Borg with their collective consciousness, on the basis of which their drones act as "principally coordinated, functionally specialized agents", can be understood as socialist . With the fear of assimilation just expressed in The First Contact , according to the essay author Wertheim, the action of the Federation against the Borg implies that - in the imagination of Western viewers - one is not part of a whole or larger, but only something whole can be yourself and that your own importance has top priority. This idea suggests that society per se should be rejected and that individuality should be preferred. In this respect, the Borg are the " western fantasy" of communism , socialism and all Asian cultures, especially Muslims . Tindol suggested that the Borg, more than a "metaphorical repetition of communist threat," reflected the age-old American fear of being captured by others: Picard's story of his imprisonment with the Borg resembled that of Mary Rowlandson ; the Borg manifested the literary genre Captivity narrative .

Another example of the subject of diversity in the film is a controversy between Data and the Borg Queen. After the Queen explains to Data that the Borg intend to evolve to a state of perfection, Data replies that the Borg are conquering rather than evolving. Mirzoeff understood this as a struggle for the higher evolutionary status; with Data's answer, the Borg would be compared to human imperialists . The author interpreted the federation's approach to space exploration as neo-colonialism  - a comparison that can be classified into a number of similar interpretations related to the other Star Trek productions.

Introduction of the Borg Queen

By introducing a Borg Queen, whose role can be understood as maternal, the Borg are presented as a way of life with social relationships. Wulff (2003) interpreted this innovation as a structural simplification with which the Borg in the film would be brought back into the "explanatory space of classic Hollywood thinking". Due to the presence of the queen, the Borg can be understood as mentally incapacitated . As soulless soldiers who had been brought into line followed a commanding leader, Höltgen (2010) interpreted the Borg society as a fascist one . Also because of the presence of a queen, the organizational form of the Borg resembles that of state-building insects , for example bees . In addition, the ruling system of the Borg, conditioned by the queen, can be interpreted as monistic and aristocratic .

Humanity, seduction and sexuality

With Data's desire to become more human, the film deals with a recurring theme in The Next Century and Generations .

Since Data as an android cannot be assimilated by the Borg by conventional means, the Borg Queen tries to seduce him to serve her. Her approach can be understood as a sexual discovery of Datas and as similar to that of a dominatrix . Some recipients also interpreted it as an S / M treatment and the Borg queen in this context also as a femme fatale . The procedure of the Borg Queen also includes blowing on the transplanted skin area. Data's reaction to his perception of the resulting goose bumps was interpreted by several critics as an orgasm . In contrast to the assimilation of humanoid bodies, whose humanity and individuality are removed by the Borg, the transformation process with Data runs in the opposite direction. This also turns him into a cyborg . Because of the related racial equality between Data and the Borg queen, Mirzoeff understood their mutual relationship as a homosexual .

In relation to his role on the television series, Data has been associated with the characteristics of a child and thus as someone who is allowed to learn from their mistakes. Melinda Snodgrass , screenwriter of several episodes, characterized him with this childlike function . It was also received as Pinocchio- like. Against this background, and on the grounds that Data is exposed to the sexual violence of the Borg queen in the film with childlike helplessness, Greven interpreted the Borg queen's interest in Data as pedophilia .

When Picard confronts the Borg Queen in the engine room, he remembers that the Borg Queen once brought him to her home to be her equal. For example, because she caresses his face in this scene, it can be concluded that the Borg queen has sexual advances on Picard. Because the Borg queen takes the active part in this relationship and Picard moves into a passive role, the Borg queen can be understood as a prostitute .

The film does not contain any justification for Data's decision, which became apparent at the end of the film, to give up his humanity gained through the Borg. Also criticizing this fact negatively, Wertheim interpreted it as a probable reason that Data, had he kept the human elements, would have been raised above humanoid individuals through the experience of emotions, which he had to protect due to construction, however, and whose wishes he always had to subordinate himself to. With this, Data is reduced to a living dead like a slave , because he has to give up his feelings, his feelings, his whole life, even though that contradicts his inner desires.

With a view to the plot revolving around Picard, Data and the Borg Queen, the film was also received in the context of Freud 's theories. Greven, for example, interpreted it in his book Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek as a sensational, idealized and sentimental version of the male version of the Oedipus conflict . He saw Data as the son punished by his mother - here the Borg Queen - who resolved the Oedipus conflict by identifying himself with his father - Picard - and internalizing his anger. The father is, because he destroys the mother, the savior of the son. Greven concluded that the “deeply oedipal” film rejected the mother's sexuality so much that it utterly destroyed the thought of women as a sexual object. The statements Datas ("Part of me is sorry that she is dead.") And Picard ("She was unique.") Are a " lament " to women and to sexual diversity. In this regard, the film is so determined to restore oedipal bonds among men that it runs the risk of portraying these bonds as the only imaginable ones. Book reviewer Gunnels (2011) judged that Greven's analyzes in the book relied almost exclusively on a "reducing and old-fashioned reading" of Freud.

In their comparison of film with Henry Rider Haggard's 1887 erstveröffentlichtem Bestsellers -novel you that the genre showers literature (English also: Gothic Fiction ) counts believed Dryden (2007) to recognize numerous clear parallels not only related to the visual representation, but also on the act. Especially with regard to the conception of the Borg Queen, interpreted by Dryden as the “Gothic female monster”, the film was influenced by you , but also by other novels of the genre. Both Ayesha, the main character in the novel, and the Borg queen aspired, according to Dryden, to rule and subjugate worlds and races. The sexuality of both women is a danger to male integrity and its homosocial world; the woman endangers the bond between father and son - in relation to the film Picard and Data are meant - and only the destruction of the woman can restore the "'natural" order of the patriarchal world ".

heroism

In the Starship Enterprise episode Metamorphosis , Zefram Cochrane was still a disinterested scientist full of ideals. In First Contact , however, he's a greedy, self-serving alcoholic. In contrast to Picard, Cochrane shows interest in greed , carnal lust and other vices of the present in the film. In this way, according to Rahayel (1996), he represents precisely the attitude “that must be overcome in order to be able to create the multicultural cosmos that the Federation represents”. In the consciousness of the Enterprise team - according to the idea expressed by Frakes - he is a brilliant scientist, a celebrated hero, a legend with unprecedented fame, because mankind was able to explore space through his achievement. With these qualities, Cochrane can be compared to Chuck Yeager , the first person to break the sound barrier. On the other hand, however, Cochrane does not want to be a legend and reacts - in the words of Cromwell - "scared, confused, amazed and disturbed" and thus refutes the expectations that the crew has of him. That makes him a reluctant hero.

Adaptations and influences

Merchandising items

See also : List of Star Trek Novels

A large number of licensed products were sold as part of merchandising (see also: Star Trek ) .

Like the other Star Trek films, First Contact was published as a novel. Written by JM Dillard , it was published in English by Pocket Books in 1996 , including hardcover, softcover, audio book and Kindle editions. Heyne Verlag published a German translation written by Andreas Brandhorst in 1996 as number 57 in the novel series The Next Generation . Pocket Books also published a youth novel about the film , written by John Vornholt , in 1996 and the 6-part series of novels Slings and Arrows , written by various authors, in 2007 and 2008, which deal with the Enterprise-E between its commissioning and the beginning of the film story. The US publisher Marvel Comics also released a comic about the film in 1996.

The publisher MicroProse began developing an official computer game based on the film. However , the company, which was sold to Hasbro in 1998 because of financial difficulties, stopped development that same year without the game being released. A computer game does exist under the title Star Trek - First Contact ; however, it is based on Starship Enterprise and was released in 1988.

Use for educational purposes

The film served as an occasion for discussions about time travel and other scientific and technological aspects in the context of public events at universities. Universities include the University of Lübeck , New York Columbia University and the University of Toronto . The physicist and bestselling author Lawrence Krauss was announced as a participant in the event at the latter university . The film also served as the basis for teaching material relating to the development of the science fiction genre, the marketing of films, and other aspects of film education . The kinofenster.de website, for example , which is co-published by the Federal Agency for Civic Education , recommends such material .

Follow-up films

→ Main article : Spaceship Enterprise - The Next Century

Following the film, two more Star Trek cinema films were made with the spaceship crew from The Next Century in the spotlight: The Uprising and Nemesis , released in 1998 and 2002, respectively. Several publications, which were distributed primarily at the time of the first release of First Contact , stated - often quoting Rick Berman - that the box-office success of First Contact was decisive for whether another Star Trek film is produced. The statement by production designer Herman F. Zimmerman , with which he was quoted in the December 1996 issue of Cinefantastique , also allows the conclusion that Paramount had already decided to produce two follow-up films when The First Contact was being made: “ We have a three film deal with Paramount and I think we'll see this bridge in at least two more films. The Enterprise will survive. "

The uprising was filmed again with Frakes as director and Leonetti as cameraman. Since screenwriters Michael Piller and Patrick Stewart judged First Contact to be too dark for a Star Trek film, they wanted to make The Uprising in a brighter, friendlier atmosphere. Stewart also prevailed with his wish that Picard be shown again as an action hero. In terms of global and US box office results, the two follow-up films were far from matching the success of The First Contact : Despite significantly increased production costs compared to the previous film, global revenues from cinema screenings fell to US $ 112 and 67 million respectively. However, the uprising in Germany was able to slightly exceed the grossing results of the previous film. Although praised in some reviews, Nemesis became the most commercially unsuccessful Star Trek film and a major financial disappointment for Paramount, which led to the temporary suspension of the Star Trek film series and the end of the screen adaptations by the Picard team.

TV Shows

Devices known from the Star Trek universe that had been redesigned for the film, such as phasers , were also used in the television series Deep Space Nine and Spaceship Voyager . In Deep Space Nine , the uniforms from the movie were introduced immediately after it was released. In Spaceship Voyager , the Borg became one of the most important plot elements. They appeared for the first time in the series, beginning with the episode The Cooperative, which first aired almost three months after the film was released . In the same year, 1997, the main character Kes was replaced with the human woman Seven of Nine , once assimilated by the Borg , whose relationship with the Borg became a major issue. This also included her relationship with a Borg queen, who appeared in six episodes. The series did not give an explanation as to whether this Borg queen is the same one who was destroyed in the film. The Borg Queen was in the two double episodes Dark Frontier and Unimatrix Zero by Susanna Thompson played before Alice Krige , the figure in the final double episode final embodied. The visual representation of the Borg, which was renewed for the representation in the film, was also adapted for the television series. At least for Scorpio, Part 1 , visual effects and matte paintings from the film were used again.

In the pilot film Departure into the Unknown of the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise , which played about 90 years after the first contact, James Cromwell took on the role of Cochrane again for a cameo . Recordings of the spaceship Phoenix were integrated into the opening credits of the series. Four episodes deal with other forms of first contact between humans and extraterrestrials: Carbon Creek tells of the stay of some Vulcans on Earth in the 1950s, caused by their emergency landing, during which they keep their species affiliation secret and thus remain undiscovered by humans; In Regeneration , survivors of the Borg sphere destroyed in the film by the Enterprise, who were brought back to life by members of a research team, assimilate this team and finally make contact with the Borg, which at that time were still in the Delta Quadrant. In the double episode The Dark Side of the Mirror , which takes place in a parallel universe , the Vulcans are killed shortly after their landing on Earth by Cochrane and his followers, and the rest of human history takes a different, more aggressive course. The first half of this two-part series begins with the landing of the volcanic spaceship shown at the end of the film.

literature

• John Takis: Complete Motion Picture Soundtrack - Limited Edition - Extended Liner Notes (PDF; 28 MB), in: GNP Crescendo Records , 1996, accessed on March 11, 2014

To the history of origin

• Lou Anders: The Making of Star Trek: The First Contact , Heel Verlag , Königswinter 1997, ISBN 3-89365-564-6 . Translated into German by Josef Rother of the original English edition The Making of Star Trek: First Contact , Titan Books, London 1996
• Frederick S. Clarke (Ed.): Cinefantastique ( ISSN  0145-6032 ) No. 6, December 1996 (28th vol.), Pp. 16-31
• Stephen Pizzello (Ed.): American Cinematographer ( ISSN  0002-7928 ) No. 12, December 1996 (77th year), pp. 58-74
• Brian J. Robb: A Brief Guide to Star Trek. The Essential History of the classic TV Series and the Movies , Constable & Robinson, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-84901-514-1

Interpretations and Scientific Reception

• Linda Dryden: She: Gothic Reverberations in Star Trek: First Contact ( article online as MS Word document on the website of Edinburgh Napier University , accessed on March 24, 2014), in: Benjamin A. Brabon, Stephanie Genz (ed. ): Post-feminist Gothic. Critical Interventions in Contemporary Culture , Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke 2007, ISBN 978-0-230-00542-6 , pp. 154-169
• David Greven: Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek. Allegories of Desire in the Television Series and Films . McFarland & Company, Jefferson 2009, ISBN 978-0-7864-5458-7 , pp. 135-164
  • Book review by Jennifer Gunnels: Of Cigars and Star Trek , in: Science Fiction Studies ( ISSN  0091-7729 ) No. 113, March 2011 (38th year / part 1), article online on the website of DePauw University , accessed on 24 . March 2014
• Nina Rogotzki et al. (Ed.): Fascinating! Star Trek and the Sciences (Volume 1), 4th edition, Ludwig, Kiel 2009, ISBN 978-3-933598-25-7
• Nicholas Mirzoeff: An Introduction to Visual Culture . Routledge, London, New York 1999, ISBN 0-415-15876-1 , pp. 211-222
• Robert Tindol: The Star-Trek Borg as an All-American Captivity Narrative , in: Brno Studies in English ( ISSN  0524-6881 ) No. 1/2012 (38th year), pp. 151–158. ( PDF on the website of Masaryk University , accessed on February 15, 2014)
• Christine Wertheim: Star Trek: First Contact: The Hybrid, the Whore and the Machine , in: Ziauddin Sardar , Sean Cubitt (Ed.): Aliens R Us. The Other in Science Fiction Cinema , Pluto Press, London 2002, ISBN 0-7453-1539-9 , pp. 74-93 ( PDF ( April 30, 2015 memento in the Internet Archive ) on the Rhode Island College website , accessed on March 10, 2014)

Web links

Wikiquote: Star Trek: First Contact  - Quotes

• Star Trek: First Contact in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Star Trek: The first contact in the online film database
• Star Trek: First Contact atRotten Tomatoes(English)
• Official pages at StarTrek.de (German) and StarTrek.com (English)
• Star Trek: The First Contact in the Star Trek Wiki Memory Alpha
• Transcription of the original English version , in: Chakoteya.net
• Draft script from September 29, 1995 , in: The Daily Script
• German movie poster in the archive for movie posters

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 12 f.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Robb 2012, pp. 154–159
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Arnulf Hinkel: Star Trek: The first contact , in: Moviestar No. 24, January 1997, pp. 10-18
4. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 14
5. ↑ ^{a b} Anders 1997, p. 15
6. ↑ Clive Parker: First Contact , in: SFX (German edition) No. 1/1997, p. 19
7. ↑ ^{a b} Anders 1997, p. 18 f.
8. ↑ ^{a b} Mike Hillenbrand , Thomas Höhl : These are the adventures - Star Trek 40 years . Heel Verlag , Königswinter 2006, ISBN 978-3-89880-668-8 , pp. 191-195
9. ↑ ^{a b} Star Trek - First Contact , in: Film Education, accessed January 5, 2014
10. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 24
11. ↑ ^{a b} Jürgen Armbruster: Star Trek - The First Contact , in: Filmstarts , accessed on January 7, 2014
12. ↑ Diane Werts: A 'First' for Him: Jonathan Frakes takes directing controls of the latest 'Star Trek' film enterprise , in: Los Angeles Times, November 29, 1996, ( article online , accessed January 8, 2014)
13. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Mike Hillenbrand , Thomas Höhl : Star Trek in Germany. "How Captain Kirk came to Germany" . Heel Verlag , Königswinter 2008, ISBN 978-3-86852-006-4 , pp. 191-198
14. ↑ Star Trek - The First Contact. In: synchronkartei.de. German synchronous file , accessed on January 25, 2014 . 
15. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 67
16. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 54 f., P. 100 f.
17. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 76
18. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 80
19. ↑ Anna L. Kaplan: Borg , in: Clarke 1996, p. 24 f.
20. ↑ Michael Peinkofer: Star Trek First Contact , in: Moviestar No. 22/23, Nov./Dec. 1996 (4th year), pp. 10-13
21. ↑ Michael Peinkofer: The Return of the Borg , in: Moviestar No. 25/26, February / March 1997, pp. 42-46
22. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 89
23. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 100 f.
24. ↑ ^{a b} Anders 1997, p. 103
25. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 104 f.
26. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 107
27. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 95
28. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 108 f.
29. ↑ ^{a b c} Andrew O. Thompson: Battling the Borg , in: Pizzello 1996, pp. 58-66
30. ↑ ^{a b c d} Claudia Kern : Resistance is futile - Star Trek: The first contact , in: SFX (German edition) No. 1/1997, p. 17
31. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 56 ff.
32. ↑ Phillip Boroff: Star Trek Model Goes for $ 120,000 at Christie's Sale (Update1) , in: Bloomberg News, October 5, 2006, accessed December 4, 2013
33. ↑ ^{a b} Ron Magid: Where No Trek Has Gone Before In: Pizzello 1996, pp. 68-74
34. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 70
35. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 114 f.
36. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 118
37. ↑ ^{a b} Anders 1997, p. 120
38. ↑ ^{a b c d} Star Trek: First Contact (Jerry Goldsmith) , in: Filmtracks of May 17, 2012, accessed on March 7, 2014
39. ↑ ^{a b} Star Trek: First contact , in: Lumiere - Database of movie attendance figures in Europe, accessed on February 16, 2014
40. ↑ THE STAR TREK CHRONICLES (page 2 of 2) , in: Inside Kino, accessed on March 13, 2014
41. ↑ ^{a b} Box office / business for Star Trek: The First Contact , in: IMDb , accessed on May 17, 2014
42. ↑ Michel Marriott: A Starship Chief Goes Bravely Into Directing , in: The New York Times, December 18, 1996 ( online article , accessed February 5, 2014)
43. ↑ Arlene Vigoda: 'First Contact' in 1st place , in: USA Today, November 26, 1996 (article online , accessed February 5, 2014)
44. ↑ ^{a b} Gregor Fischer: Star Trek - The eighth film , in: Space View No. 6, December 1996, pp. 48–54
45. ↑ ^{a b} TOP 100 DEUTSCHLAND 1996 , in: Inside Kino, accessed on February 9, 2014
46. ↑ Newly released films in Austria on December 20, 1996 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: ReoCities , accessed March 13, 2014 
47. ↑ ^{a b} Release Info , in: IMDb , accessed on February 5, 2014
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50. ↑ TOP 50 USA 1996 , in: Inside Kino, accessed on February 9, 2014
51. ↑ Net income € 13 million, converted at the annual average rate for 2008 of US $ 1.47 = € 1 , in: Austrian Chamber of Commerce , accessed on February 9, 2014
52. ^ ^{A b} Roger Ebert : Star Trek: First Contact , in: Chicago Sun-Times, November 22, 1996, article online at RogerEbert.com, accessed March 1, 2014
53. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Oliver Rahayel: Star Trek - The first contact , in: Filmdienst No. 26/1996
54. ↑ ^{a b c} Martin Scholz : Return of the Body Eaters , in: Frankfurter Rundschau of December 21, 1996, p. 6
55. ^ Film review , in: kino.de , accessed on March 14, 2014
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61. ^ ^{A b} Karl Williams: Star Trek: First Contact (1996) , in: allemovie , accessed on March 4, 2014
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67. ^ ^{A b} Adam Smith: Star Trek: First Contact. Jean Luc does battle with The Borg , in: Empire. Article online at Empire online, accessed March 8, 2014
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73. ↑ Scott Rosenborg: To Borgly Go Where No One Has Gone Before , in: Salon.com, November 25, 1996, accessed April 18, 2014
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77. ↑ Original quote: “stellar across the board”
78. ↑ Original quote: “with deliciously perverse sensuality”
79. ↑ Original quote: “she fairly oozes synthetic malevolence beneath a blanket of special-effects makeup.”
80. ↑ Original quote: “often annoyingly twinkly and humane”
81. ↑ ^{a b c} Dryden 2007
82. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 19
83. ↑ Star Trek: First Contact (1996) - Trivia , in: IMDb , accessed March 16, 2014
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85. ↑ ^{a b} Andrew O. Thompson: Trouble in Paradise , in: Stephen Pizzello (Ed.): American Cinematographer ( ISSN  0002-7928 ) No. 1, January 1999 (80th year), pp. 30-38, here: P. 31
86. ↑ Greven 2009, p. 158: “translucent, moist, greenish-white amphibian”
87. ↑ ^{a b c d} Kenneth Anderson: Where no man has gone before , in: The Times Literary Supplement No. 4892 of January 3, 1997, pp. 18-19. Downloadable from the Social Science Research Network , accessed February 16, 2014
88. ↑ Greven 2009, p. 154
89. ^ Mia Consalvo: Borg Babes, Drones, and the Collective: Reading Gender and the Body in Star Trek , in: Women's Studies in Communication No. 2/2004 (27th year), pp. 177-203. Online , accessed October 7, 2013.
90. ↑ Takis 1996
91. ↑ cf. also credits
92. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 121
93. ^ ^{A b c} Douglas E. Cowan: Sacred Space. The Quest for Transcendence in Science Fiction Film and Television . Baylor University Press, Waco 2010, ISBN 978-1-60258-238-5 , pp. 35-41
94. ↑ Desson Howe, 'Star Trek': On Track , in: The Washington Post, November 22, 1996, accessed January 9, 2014
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96. ↑ Teresa Huang: First Contact: proof the Enterprise still has some gas in it , in: The Tech (newspaper of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ) No. 16/1997 (Volume 117), pp. 7-8 ( article online , accessed on January 5, 2014)
97. ↑ David Hochman: Preview: 'Star Trek: First Contact' , in: Entertainment Weekly No. 354 (1996), article online at EW.com, accessed December 4, 2013
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99. ↑ Michèle and Duncan Barrett: Star Trek: The Human Frontier . Routledge , New York 2001, ISBN 0-7456-2491-X , p. 20
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101. ↑ ^{a b} Tindol 2012
102. ↑ Mirzoeff 1999, p. 218
103. ↑ Greven 2009, p. 137
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105. ↑ Wertheim 2002, p. 76 f., Original quote p. 76: “Western fantasy”
106. ↑ ^{a b c} Mirzoeff 1999, p. 219
107. ↑ Hans J. Wulff: STAR TREK between popular culture and knowledge agency, in: Rogotzki et al. (2009), pp. 19-40, here: pp. 30 f.
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110. ^ Dryden 2007, p. 159
111. ↑ Mark A. Altman: The Importance of Being Data , in: Cinefantastique , Vol. 21, No. 2, Sep. 1990, pp. 36, 37, 59
112. ↑ Greven 2009, 153
113. ↑ Wertheim 2002, p. 85
114. ↑ Wertheim 2002, p. 85 ff.
115. ↑ ^{a b} quote from the German dubbed version
116. ↑ Greven 2009, p. 155 f.
117. ↑ Gunnels 2011, original quote: “reductive and old-fashioned reading”
118. ↑ Dryden 2007, p. 163 ff.
119. ↑ Andreas Rauscher: The STAR TREK phenomenon - virtual spaces and metaphorical worlds , Ventil Verlag , Mainz 2003, ISBN 3-930559-98-6 (dissertation, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz ), p. 282
120. ↑ ^{a b} Anders 1997, p. 27
121. ↑ Anders 1997, p. 41
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125. ↑ "Star Trek - The First Contact" , in: University of Lübeck from January 30, 2012, accessed on May 29, 2015
126. ↑ Star Trek: First Contact , in: Columbia University , accessed May 29, 2015
127. ↑ Science at the Movies: the physics of Star Trek , in: University of Toronto, February 25, 2013, accessed May 29, 2015
128. ↑ Star Trek - The First Contact , in: kinofenster.de from November 15, 2008, accessed on May 29, 2015
129. ^ Ian Spelling: Star Trek: First Contact , in: The Official STAR TREK 30th Anniversary Magazine , Starlog Group, New York 1996, ISBN 0-934551-09-X , pp. 102-106
130. ↑ Anna L. Kaplan: Star Trek First Contact , in: Clarke 1996, here: p. 27, quote from Herman Zimmerman: “We have a three-picture commitment from Paramount, and I think we'll see this bridge in at least two more pictures. The Enterprise will survive. "
131. ↑ Robb 2012, pp. 159-167
132. ↑ Frederick S. Clarke (Ed.): Cinefantastique ( ISSN  0145-6032 ) No. 6/7, November 1997 (29th year), pp. 95 f., 103-106

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